Eager To Whiten Your Teeth? Three Steps To Take Before Applying The Gel

Summer is not far away, so it is understandable that you want to look your best during the days ahead. While you already have gotten your body ready for this year's new swimsuit, have you taken action to make sure your smile is as brilliant as it could be? Having a professional dentist, such as those at Collins Dental Image, whiten your teeth is one of the best ways to make your smile gleam, but there are a couple of steps you should take first to help ensure teeth whitening success.

Desensitize Teeth

During the teeth whitening process, your teeth are going to be exposed to both chemicals and heat. If you already have sensitive teeth, you may find the whitening process gives you a great deal of discomfort. One way you can get around this is to work on desensitizing your teeth before the procedure.

An over-the-counter sensitive toothpaste is something you must turn to if you have never used one before, and you can get it at your supermarket. The pores in your teeth are what expose your dental nerves to the heat and chemicals. When you use toothpaste designed for sensitive teeth, it blocks these pores and that may remove potential discomfort.

Desensitize Gums With Vitamin E Swabs

Another thing you can do to prepare your gums for a successful whitening procedure is to purchase Vitamin E swabs from your pharmacy. These swabs look just like the cotton buds you use to clean your ears, except Vitamin E lotion is housed in the stem of the swab. When you snap the stem at the indicated line, the Vitamin E then flows up into the cotton swab end.

Rubbing Vitamin E lotion swabs along your gums prior to whitening may help to desensitize the gum line. Additionally, the same swabs can be used after the procedure to reduce any irritation being felt. This is because Vitamin E has healing properties and is also effective for reducing gum bleeding.

Dental Cleaning

Another step to teeth whitening success is to have your teeth cleaned by your dentist before you have the whitening procedure done. Just like you wouldn't put new paint on a dirty wall, you can't put tooth whitening gel on dirty teeth.

Tartar attached to your teeth will hinder the whitening chemicals from getting into every part of the enamel. Therefore, you need to have your teeth de-scaled and polished to remove all debris build up before the chemicals can be applied. Bear in mind you cannot have the cleaning done on the same day as the whitening, because the gums need time to heal before coming into contact with the whitening chemicals.

The more prep work you put into getting ready for your teeth whitening procedure, the better the results you will see. Acting now means your teeth will be as ready for beach season as the rest of your body, and that's just another great reason to smile.